The present invention relates to electric room lighting, and more particularly to free-standing lamps such as floor lamps and table lamps.
Floor lamps of the prior art typically have a base, a column extending upwardly from the base to from four to six feet above floor level, with one or more luminaries thereon for providing area lighting, task lighting, or a combination thereof. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,141 to Swanson. Area lighting is usually provided by a light source that is fixed at the top of the column, and task lighting, if present, is provided from one or more heads that are adjustably mounted on the column at intermediate locations. Table lamps have similar construction except that the column is foreshortened or combined with the base.
Among the problems exhibited by the above-identified lamps are the following:
1. They are expensive to store and/or ship in that they are excessively bulky when assembled, particularly when the column is in one piece; PA1 3. They are ineffective in that task lighting is difficult and/or impossible to locate and orient as desired, particularly when spaced-apart tasks are to be lighted; and PA1 4. They lack versatility in that the presence of an area illuminated at the top of the column is not optional.
2. They are awkward and difficult to assemble in the field when they are shipped in a broken-down (disassembled) condition.
Thus there is a need for a floor lamp that overcomes these disadvantages.